Connor tugged uncomfortably at his tie but Abby slapped his hand away and neatened it again.

“What time is it?”

Abby sighed. “Thirty seconds after you last asked me.”

He couldn’t help it; he was nervous. This would be their first real date. What if he made a total idiot of himself? He wasn’t the most socially apt person and if he tended to talk too much when he got nervous.

This was going to be a disaster.

“Relax, Connor,” Abby told him. “You’ll be fine.”

The doorbell rang and Abby gave him a push to go and answer it.

Captain Tom Ryan

Ryan stood at the door, wondering for the fiftieth time what he was doing here. Sure, they’d had a few drinks after work, but that had always been with the others present as well. They could talk about their day, have a laugh, but this? He liked Connor, but the kid was a genius. He hadn’t even gone to university; he was a soldier- that was all he really knew. What would someone like Connor see in him? What if they just sat there, unable to find anything to talk about?

Raising his hand, he knocked sharply on the door.

Dining Out

“You know, I was a bit nervous about tonight,” Connor admitted, taking another sip of his wine.